Why We're Friends
by Izzyb404
Summary: After the sudden death of Lucy's mother, she and her father move to a new town to start a new life, problem is, Lucy doesn't know anybody. (Modern Day AU)
1. Chapter 1

**This is a story idea I came up with at like two in the morning when I couldn't sleep, and then I got really pumped to write it. This story will have at least twelve chapters, following Natsu and Lucy through each year of school, starting in first grade and ending with the senior year!**

* * *

"Alright class, we have a new student joining us today, so be on your best behavior!" The teacher spoke softly to her students, looking over the children as they yawned and doodled on their hands, she kneeled down so she was closer to the height of the little blonde girl next to her. "This is Lucy Heartfilia, she just moved here during winter break, so she needs some new friends, understand?" most kids just groaned or nodded as a response, too tired and uninterested to really do anything else. "You'll sit in the second row next to Yukino, she's the one with the white flower in her hair."

Lucy nodded and walked over to her seat, avoiding the eyes of all the other children in the room as she did so. She slumped into her seat, straightening her skirt and playing with the pink bracelet on her left wrist as the teacher continued to talk.

* * *

When the first play break finally began, Lucy picked up a book and headed to the farthest corner of the room, trying to block out her loud classmates as they played games with their friends.

Not long after, Lucy spotted a boy with bright pink hair walking her way out of the corner of her eye. The boy didn't seem too nice as he stomped away from a group of kids huddled around a game, mumbling something about how he wasn't a cheater and everyone else was just bad at following his rules.

"Hey, your name is Lucy, right?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest when she only nodded. "Well, my name is Natsu, and I don't have any friends either, Miss Mia says it's because I'm mean to people, but that's only because they're mean to me first! Are you mean?"

Lucy shook her head quickly, wanting to stay on Natsu's good side incase he ever had a bad day. "My momma always said being mean to people only gets you hurt, and I don't want that to happen."

Natsu grinned as he sat down next to her, obviously having no concern about personal space. "Good, that means we can be friends, and friends need to know everything about each other! My last name is Dragneel, which is really cool because it sounds like I'm a dragon, and I like dragons a lot!"

Natsu went on and on for the entire break, occasionally stopping to ask Lucy about her favorite things, and when the lunch break started, he ate with her and continued to speak afterwards, not pushing when she didn't want to talk about her family or her old house, talking about his scarf instead and why he always wore it, even during the summer.

The two walked out of school together when the day finally ended, saying goodbye and parting ways when they were almost to Lucy's father.

"Who was that?" Jude asked as they walked back to the car, taking Lucy's bag from her on the way.

"That's Natsu," Lucy said excitedly as she smiled, "he's my new friend!"


	2. Play Dates and Pesky Brothers

Lucy hopped up the stairs to Natsu's house excitedly, motioning for her father to walk faster. "C'mon, dad, if you don't hurry up then Natsu's gonna think I forgot about him!" Lucy said as she excitedly rocked back and forth on her heels.

School was starting in less than a week, and Natsu and Lucy decided they wanted to get together one last time to play and check which teacher they had, but what was different about this time was that it would be at Natsu's house.

Since Natsu and Lucy met they'd played together many times outside of school, but never once had they done so at Natsu's house. Most of the time they met at a park, which allowed Jude and Igneel to talk and become friends. The friendship between the fathers opened up a new door for Natsu and Lucy, they'd been able to see each other much more than before, and the kids had met multiple times at Lucy's house, but never Natsu's.

"Lucy, I'm pretty sure he'll know we didn't forget." Jude responded with a chuckle, quickening his pace slightly to catch up to his daughter.

"That's because you don't know him like I do, even if we're only a tiny bit late he'll think we forgot!" Lucy called over her shoulder as she ran to the front door, ringing the doorbell somewhere around six times.

A faint "I got it!" was heard from inside- along with many light (but erratic) footsteps -before the door was swung open by Natsu.

"Lucy, look, I lost another tooth!" Natsu yelled excitedly, opening his mouth to reveal a new gap in his teeth.

"Not fair!" Lucy whined as she inspected the little bit of a tooth that was already growing in. "You've already lost six, but I've only lost four.."

Natsu grinned, proudly placing his hands on his hips. "Must be part of my special dragon slayer powers!"

"That isn't how it works, Natsu." Igneel said as he entered the room.

Natsu crossed his arms as he glared back at his father. "You said I'm the first dragon slayer, so I make the rules about them! Come on, Lucy, you're gonna meet Happy now, and then Zeref will be home in a little bit!"

Lucy had never met Natsu's big brother, Zeref, but Natsu talked so much about him that she felt like they were already best friends. According to Natsu's description, Zeref was shorter than other kids his age, quiet, sometimes mean, and really smart (especially when it came to science).

"Happy, I know you don't like new people, but be nice to this one, she's my friend…" Natsu spoke softly as they entered his bedroom, slowly reaching under his bed when a faint mew was heard.

When Natsu stood, he was cradling a small, blue ball of fur in his arms, "Lucy, this is Happy, he's only a year old, so be careful with him…"

Happy removed his head from hiding in Natsu's elbow, looking up at Lucy with the biggest eyes she'd ever seen.

"Why is he blue?" Lucy asked without much thought, her curiosity getting the best of her.

Surprisingly, Natsu smiled in response as he held Happy in a way that showed his stomach was still white. "I dunno, he came back home a few weeks ago with blue fur, and it didn't wash out, we even took him to a cat groomer!"

Lucy took the small cat into her hands, cradling him to her chest as he began to bat at her braids.

"You bring a girl home, and of all things, you show her your cat?"

Lucy turned, eyes locking on a black haired boy she assumed was most likely Zeref judging by Natsu's vague description of his physical appearance. Like Natsu had said, Zeref really wasn't much taller than Lucy, resulting in Zeref looking about nine years old (despite the fact that he was nearly 12).

"You know, I thought I'd be happy when you got back home, Zeref, but because you said that, I'm angry instead!" Natsu said as he crossed his arms, the smile forming on his face betraying his attempt at a glare.

Zeref rolled his eyes in faked irritance as he walked across the room, gently flicking Natsu's ear. "Stupid looks like that are why you've never had friends."

Natsu whipped around angrily, opening his mouth to retort before Zeref turned to greet Lucy.

"Sorry about that, I've never had somebody to tease him in front of before, I'm Zeref, Natsu's older brother, I assume you're Lucy?" Zeref spoke with a gentle voice and a soft smile, doing a complete one-eighty from when he was previously talking with Natsu.

Lucy readjusted the small kitten in her arms as it began to fall asleep, curling into the girl's elbow for more warmth.

Natsu moved to stand in front of Lucy, gently pushing Zeref farther way. "Lucy came here to play, not to listen to you being a jerk!"

Zeref rolled his eyes, pushing past Natsu so he could get to the door. "Yeah, yeah, have fun with your cat, _dragon boy_."

"Dragon boy?" Lucy asked, noticing how quickly Natsu's face flushed.

"Uh, it's kind of a weird story, you'll probably think it-"

"I love weird stories!" Lucy cut him off, grinning in anticipation.

Natsu laughed awkwardly, his hands habitually beginning to play with the ends of his scarf as he avoided her gaze. "Well, Igneel likes to do these cool fire tricks, so I called him a fire dragon, and I'm his fire dragon slayer, but Zeref kinda makes fun of me for it…"

To Natsu's surprise, Lucy laughed instead of calling him dumb like all the other kids who found out about the dragon nicknames.

"That's not weird, it's funny, and a little cute!" Lucy said with a smile, giggling when Natsu began to blush even more. "If you have a dragon to fight, then I can be the princess that needs to be saved?"

Natsu perked up at that, vigorously nodding his head as a grin took over his features. "Of course, and your brave dragon slayer will save you from the horrible dragon who keeps you there!"

And so the two played for hours, only taking a few breaks for naps and snacking (in that order) until Lucy went home, promising each other to continue their game the next chance they got.

 **This is like my third time trying to post this, it's four in the morning, and I am exhausted...**

 **If you want more of my fics and random hints about future chapters, my tumblr url is hisokas-glowing-erection (yes, go ahead and laugh).**


	3. Short Slayers Can't Save The Princess

"Hey, ice boy!" Natsu yelled as he made his way across the playground, drawing the attention of none other than Gray Fullbuster. "I need you to help me with something!"

Gray whipped around, glaring at Natsu in the most threatening way he could manage. "Well, fire freak, if you wanna know how dumb you are, it's eleven outta ten!" The boy responded with a smirk.

Ever since the two boys had met, Miss Erell's third grade class had basically been hell due to the fact that they were literally fire and ice.

You see, Gray and Natsu come from complete opposite sides of the earth, Gray was a kind, gentle, and charming young boy who never got into fights.

And then he met Natsu.

Gray was a lover of cold, he preferred winter over any other season, was extremely tolerant to temperatures freezing and below, and completely filled his water bottle with ice just so he could eat it every single morning.

Natsu, on the other hand, enjoyed heat, preferring the high temperatures of the summer months seeing as he was quite tolerant of them, and almost exclusively ate spicy things.

The two had met on the third or fourth day of school when they accidentally ran into each other in gym, leading to them constantly fighting ever since. The teacher had given up on breaking up the fights quite quickly, relying on Lucy and Erza to keep the boys in check.

"What was that, glacier face!?" Natsu called back, raising his fists in preparation for what was sure to be a fight.

It was then that Erza stood from her place on the bench, staring both boys down. "Gray, sit and be quiet! What was your question, Natsu?" She spoke gently, barely masking the terrifying glint in her eye.

Natsu quickly lowered his fist, taking a few steps back in case he needed to run. "Well, uh, Lucy thinks she might be taller than me, but I know I m taller, so we need you to tell us who's wrong!"

"Alright, stand straight up and back to back, keep your feet flat and your head facing forwards, no cheating!" Erza commanded, guiding the children into place.

The redhead took a step back, examining the two before-

"Yeah, Lucy s taller, no doubt." Gray said without much thought, biting into the apple he pulled from his lunch box.

"Wha- nobody asked you! Erza, tell the truth, am I taller!?" Natsu yelled with a horrified expression, his pride as the "alpha friend" on the line.

Erza s features grew apologetic as she looked at Natsu, holding in a small whine as the boy groaned loudly, slumping onto the picnic bench next to Gray.

"Sorry, Natsu," The redhead spoke, gently rustling Natsu s hair. "you'll grow some more soon, you won t be the short one when we reach high school!"

"But I don't wanna wait until high school, that s really far away!" Natsu complained as he slid down further, leaning his head back until it hit the table, using his arms to shield his eyes from the sun.

Lucy began to shake with muffled laughter, drawing the attention of the three kids around her. "You know, I don t think I can be saved by a dragon slayer who's shorter than me..." She said as she openly laughed, running away when Natsu jumped up from the bench, tripping over his own feet as he tried to run after her.

"That fall meant nothing, I m still gonna beat the dragon!" Natsu yelled as he scrambled to stand up, nearly falling for a second time before he finally ran.


	4. Field Day

Elementary school field day, a whole day full of fun, excitement, activity and-

"But I wanna be on Lucy's team!"

Natsu whining…

The teacher sighed in exasperation, gripping the clipboard so tight that it began to creak. "Natsu, we both know how competitive you two get, if you're paired together then you'll probably lose for your entire team."

"So!? Field day is about fun, and we have fun when we're on the same team!" Natsu yelled back, stomping his foot for emphasis.

Ever since their first field day in second grade, Natsu and Lucy had been the two most competitive kids at Dreyar Elementary School. They raced to lunch, gym, and even the bus, the loser of each race was to refer to the winner as "your highness" or "the chosen one" until said loser's next victory.

Erza grabbed Natsu by the scarf, yanking him back to where his team sat in the far right corner of the room. "You know, if you're on different teams then you'll have a better chance of winning…" She said, forcing Natsu into his seat next to Gray.

* * *

Lunch that day was one of the hardest things Natsu and Lucy ever had to sit through. Teams had to sit together in their own secluded area of the playground, not allowed to sit with friends because it was "team bonding time". Now this wouldn't have been so if they had friends on both teams, but unfortunately, Natsu's team was full of friends, and Lucy's just had strangers.

The separate teams had definitely been great for actually playing the games, the teachers were way more relaxed and Natsu and Lucy could keep track of winning in a much easier way, but the two children had barely even talked at all that day. Even when Natsu tried to sneak over so they could eat together, he was caught within five minutes and sent back to his own team.

Most of lunch was spent with the two constantly glancing over at the other, having silent conversations when their eyes met, until one of Lucy's teammates called out to her.

"Hey, Lucy, why don't you come join us?" The only other girl on the team, Levy, asked from where she sat with her two friends, Jet and Droy.

Lucy stood, grabbing her half-empty lunch box before walking over to the group. If memory served her right, the three referred to themselves as team Shadowgear. They were an unlikely team, seeing as Jet was an unbelievably fast runner for his age, Droy was surprisingly great at any sport ending in ball, and Levy was great at every subject, picking up new material before the teacher fully explained it.

"So, why were you sitting all alone?" Levy asked as she picked up her water bottle, moving it out of the way so Lucy could sit.

Lucy began to play with the hem of her shirt as she sat down, dropping the light pink lunchbox next to her. "Well, all of my friends were put in team five, and I don't really know anyone on this team…" She hesitated, fearing they'd laugh at her for having so few friends.

Levy huffed, crossing her arms in an attempt to look serious. "That isn't fair, everyone is supposed to be on a team with at least one friend! Why were you put alone?"

"The teachers think Natsu and I get too competitive with sports, and because of that, we ruin the games for our team…" Lucy responded shyly, realizing how many times she and Natsu were the reasons for their team losing in gym class.

"They aren't wrong." Jet mumbled as he bit into his sandwich, earning a scowl and a punch on the shoulder from Droy.

Seeing how uncomfortable Lucy was, Levy awkwardly cleared her throat, effectively drawing the attention of the three around her. "Well, so that you have _someone_ to talk to today, you can be an honorary member of team Shadowgear, if you want!"

Lucy instantly sat up, nodding her head so aggressively it began to hurt a little. "Yes, please, I'd really like that!"

* * *

As the end of the day neared, so did the final events, and with it, every child's excitement. The last two events of the day went on simultaneously, some grades would compete in the Water Cup Race, and others would attempt to hit a small target, causing the principal to fall into a dunk tank.

"Now, I'm sure you all know how the dunk tank works, considering it's not that hard to throw a ball." The vice principal yelled across the school yard, gesturing to the dunk tank that was almost done being set up. "The Water Cup Race is much more complicated, though, you must fill your cup with water from your team's bucket, place it on top of your head, and run across the courtyard so you can dump the water in the bucket on the other side! Easy enough, right? Well, obviously, there's a catch!" The vice principal paused, waiting for the groans and whines to quiet down. "These cups have three tiny holes on the bottom of them, so on top of needing to keep the cup steady, you also have to make sure it's being kept flat on the top of your head!"

The younger children began to speak their confusion as the vice principal took one of the cups, scooping it full of water and holding it up to show how it spilled out the bottom in three small, steady streams.

The vice principal hushed the students, placing the cup back into the bucket as the last few voices stopped. "Second and third grade will start with the race, so fourth and fifth will go to the dunk tank!"

Before he could even finish speaking, the children were already standing up, frantically gathering their team members before running to their assigned event.

The courtyard quickly filled with screams as students began to play, complaining that the water in the buckets was too cold or that the target on the dunk tank was too hard to hit.

"I bet I can hit the target with less tries than you can!" Natsu yelled as he pointed at Gray, drawing the attention of about fifteen students around them.

"You're on, dragon brain!" Gray yelled back with a jab to Natsu's chest, earning a punch to the stomach in return.

Before the disagreement could turn into a full on fight, Erza stomped over to the boys, sending them both a death glare until they noticed her. "Is there something wrong here, boys?" She asked, ridding of her glare for a smile when they both jumped away in fear. "Good, because you're next, Gray."

Gray instantly stood up straight, confidently walking up to the pitching line as he picked up the first baseball, quickly throwing it at the target and…

Missing by two feet.

Gray whipped around and glared at Natsu when he began to laugh, grabbing the second ball and using all his strength to keep from chucking it at Natsu's face. He slowly turned back to the target, being careful to properly aim this time, and threw the ball at the target, barely hitting it hard enough to dunk the principal.

"Ha, beat that!" Gray called proudly, cracking his knuckles as he stepped to the side, allowing Natsu to step up and take his turn.

Natsu scoffed, picking up the ball and pausing to aim before he threw it as hard as he could, hitting the target spot on as the principal fell back into the water.

Gray gaped while Natsu smirked, stretching his arms over his head as he passed Gray. "Did you pay attention, Failbuster? Because _that_ is how you throw a ball."

"Alright, guys, we're tied with team five, if we win this, we win field day!" Lucy excitedly explained to her team, attempting to encourage them. "If we win, I-er, _we_ can rub it in Natsu's face!"

The rest of team four looked at each other, choosing not to say anything about Lucy's weird obsession with needing to beat Natsu.

"Hey, Lucy!" Natsu called from where his team stood, forming a line for the order in which each person was supposed to go. "You tellin' everyone about how I'm gonna win?!"

Lucy scowled, standing tall with her hands on her hips. "Nah, I'm telling them how badly you're gonna lose!" She shot back, smiling cockily when Natsu's response was cut off by the teachers telling them to get in the order they decided.

Natsu and Lucy were placed at the back of their lines, impatiently waiting their turn as they cheered on their teams.

Natsu received the dripping cup first, quickly filling it with water and taking off as soon as Lucy was given hers. Though Natsu was fast, Lucy was more gentle, making sure that the smallest possible amount of water was lost.

By the time the two reached the emptying buckets, Natsu had less than half a cup of water while Lucy's was nearly full.

"Natsu, you idiot!" Gray yelled, water still dripping from his hair. "You lost so much water, you probably made us lose!"

Again, Natsu was cut off from responding, this time, by Erza. "Gray, you only had about half a cup, too, if it weren't for the rest of us, we'd have almost no water!"

The vice principal cleared his throat, stepping forward to reveal the results of the event. "After close examination, three different opinions, and a ruler, we have come to the conclusion that the winner of this race is a tie." He spoke as the children began to yell, quickly looking over every bucket to see which two were closest. "The two teams that tied were, surprisingly, teams four and five!"

"WHAT?!" Natsu and Lucy practically screamed in unison, exchanging a horrified expression as they looked over to each member of the two teams.

"Don't worry, this won't change much, it just means that both teams will have a pizza party!" The vice principal quickly explained, hoping to calm at least some of the kids.

While it worked on the rest of the teams, Natsu and Lucy didn't really care, they weren't even aware the winner got a prize, they just wanted to see who was better at sports.

"Race around the track to see who's best?" Natsu asked hopefully, a smile lighting up his face.

Lucy smirked, taking off along the track before she even responded. "You're on!"

* * *

 **I'm sorry this took so long, it's way longer than I thought it would be, but I guess that's good news for you guys!**

 **The next chapter should be out faster than this one was, and it'll have more of Natsu and Lucy being competitive...**


	5. That's A Dragon

"C'mon, Lucy, hurry and get off the bus!" Natsu whined as he impatiently rocked back and forth on his heels, glancing between the bus and the museum as everybody stepped out onto the sidewalk.

Every year the fifth graders went on a field trip a month before school ended, both classrooms voting for a wide range of different places, adding up all forty-three votes and going to the most popular.

This year's trip; the Magnolia Museum.

Every child radiated excitement, jumping up the steps to the large building as the teachers led the way.

The students looked around in awe as they entered, pointing around at the nearby exhibits and reveling at the fossils hanging down from the extremely tall ceiling.

"That's a dragon!" Natsu announced to his friends, pointing at a large winged skeleton that stood tall on the floor.

Erza examined the creature while Lucy laughed, speaking when she remembered the real name. "Actually, that's a dinosaur, a pterodactyl, to be exact."

Natsu lowered his arm, frowning as he looked for more dragon like dinosaurs. "Well, what about that one?" He asked after a moment, walking over to a nearby exhibit that was surrounded by their classmates.

"Tyrannosaurus rex."

"This one!"

"Velociraptor."

"Then I guess this one is a dragon?"

"That's a Triceratops!" Erza said irritably as she followed Natsu, relaying the dinosaur names every time he claimed that something was a dragon.

"Wow, you sure know a lot about dinosaurs, Erza!" Levy said as she caught up, Lucy, Gray, and the rest of team Shadowgear following behind.

Erza looked confused for a moment, staring at all of her nodding friends. "What do you mean? Every dinosaur has a sign next to it with the name." She spoke quickly, helping the others to realize that knowing the names really wasn't very hard.

"Holy- is that a dinosaur creator?!" Natsu yelled, taking off towards a large table covered in small touch screens, dinosaur toys surrounding each one, all facing towards a very large screen that covered the entire wall, different dinosaur mutations appearing with the name that would be given for the combination of different parts.

Natsu tapped the screen in front of him quickly, swiping through each limb carelessly to find one that looked cool.

"Done!" He announced after about a minute, practically slamming his fist down onto the "reveal on big screen" button.

Everyone stared up at the creation, squinting slightly to try and read the long and complicated name.

"What the hell is that?!" Gray asked angrily after finally giving up, a few kids gasping at his choice of language.

"Well, freezer brain, if you read the screen, you'd see that it's a Tyrannodactyl Raptor!" Natsu shot back, amazing his classmates with how easily he recited the name.

"Alright, kids, let's head over to the exhibit for the Ice Age!" The teacher said nervously, knowing that if he didn't act fast enough a fight would begin.

The students walked in a some what straight line to the next exhibit, whispering fearfully to each other as a dangerous aura radiated off of Erza, who was walking angrily between Natsu and Gray.

Once the students were allowed to roam around the room freely, almost all of them flocked to a large statue of some odd water creature, Gray buzzing with excitement at the very front.

"This is so cool, what is it!?" He asked, frantically searching for the sign that explained what the monster was.

"It says here it's a Pli-"

"It's a WATER DRAGON!" Natsu yelled, pushing through the crowd of students to get up front, earning him a smack on the back of his head from Erza.

* * *

"How'd you manage to get into so much trouble on a _field trip_?!" Zeref asked, taking the paper asking for a parent teacher conference from Natsu's hands.

Natsu began to reach for the note, pouting when Zeref held it above his head, just barely too high for Natsu to reach. "I dunno," Natsu spoke, pulling gently at his scarf as he stared at the ground. "I was just calling stuff dragons, not like I did anything wrong…"

Zeref sighed, giving the paper back by carelessly placing it on top of Natsu's head. "Igneel should be home in about ten minutes, find a better way to explain your story and he'll argue with the teacher enough that you won't get in more trouble." He said with false boredom, quickly walking up the stairs to try and hide his smile.


	6. That's Not A Real Apology

He knew exactly what they all thought of him, all the rumors they told and all the insults they whispered when he wasn't supposed to be listening. He could feel their stares whenever he passed, noticing all the frightened glances from his fellow classmates, hell, even the eighth graders were scared, he was taller than most of them, anyway.

"What kind of sixth grader has a nose piercing?"

"Why are his arms so scarred?"

"He's such a freak."

"I heard he beat someone up earlier!"

"I bet he's killed somebody…"

The last one always made him flinch a little bit, bringing up old memories he didn't dare to speak of in fear of another panic attack.

The speakers crackled as a voice began to speak, announcing a new request for a student as everyone in the hallway turned, openly staring at the dark haired boy as he turned another corner.

" _Gajeel Redfox please report to the principal's office."_

* * *

"Is Levy okay!?" Lucy asked breathlessly, running up to the door of the nurse's office with Jet close behind.

Droy nodded, nervously glancing back at the door while Lucy and Jet caught their breath. "The nurse said she'll be fine, she has a few scratches and some small bruises, she might have a bad headache later, but she's just really shaken up right now…"

The three slowly entered the room, instantly spotting Levy while she sat up on the small bed that was temporarily hers, drinking from her cup of water that was barely as tall as a finger while she placed a round, burgendy colored pain killer in her mouth. There didn't seem to be much physical damage, though many band-aids covered her pale skin, momentarily distracting from her bent -and maybe a little scratched- orange glasses, which helped to cover her red and slightly swollen eyes.

"Hey, Levy, how're you doing?" Lucy asked, noticing the little jump Levy did at the sudden voice.

Everyone knew Levy was strong, maybe not physically, but mentally, she could face anything. For as long as anyone could remember, Levy was constantly bullied, whether it be for her way above average intelligence or below average height, it always happened, and not once had it fazed her. She always found a way to annoy the bully into giving up, usually a witty comeback to prove the offender wrong was used, or just ignoring them in general, but it always worked, and Levy came out without a scratch.

But not this time.

None of the bullies ever physically harmed Levy, having their own personal boundaries that they never dared to cross, no matter how frustrated they were. So, when word got out that Levy had been beat up, saying that people were surprised was an understatement.

"Don't worry, I'm fine…" Levy responded in an almost whisper, finishing off her water before pulling her knees up to her chest, hiding her chin behind them.

Jet frowned at her actions, walking up and whispering something that made Levy's eyes widen slightly before she slowly lowered her knees, just barely enough to expose the large bruise on the bottom of her jaw.

Lucy and Droy quickly made their way to the bed, asking frantically if anything hurt while Jet went to get an ice pack.

The speakers released a light static before the school secretary's voice came on, requesting for a student to visit the principal.

Realization dawned on all of them when Levy flinched at the name, hiding her entire face behind her knees after she took the ice pack, holding it to the underside of her chin.

* * *

"Dammit, where is that jerk?!" Natsu mumbled as he ran around the school, searching for a certain red eyed male.

It had been a little over a week since Levy was beaten up, her bully had finally returned from his suspension and all Natsu wanted to do was confront the fellow sixth grader to ask the reason for what he did.

Natsu began to sprint as he saw the familiar face of Gajeel Redfox at the other end of the hall. Natsu noticed a new piercing on the boys face as he neared, this one going through his right eyebrow.

"Hey, scumbag," Natsu called as he got closer, earning the taller boy's attention. "why the hell did you do that to Levy!?"

Gajeel thought for a second, the confused look on his face being replaced with what Natsu knew was a forced smirk. "You mean the four eyed pipsqueak? I was just givin' her what she deserves!"

Natsu growled, glaring at his classmate as he noticed the faltering smirk. "She _deserved it_?! She's never even met you, how could she deserve getting beat-"

"I didn't want to do it, okay?!" Gajeel yelled, cutting off Natsu with a glare of his own. "This group of assholes in the eighth grade forced me to do it…"

Natsu stared, dumbfounded at Gajeel's words, there was no way he was forced. "Like hell you were forced, you don't have to do what those idiots say!"

"Well, you kinda do when they threaten to tell a big secret!" Gajeel yelled back, suddenly extremely uncomfortable with their conversation. "And don't ask what it is, because I can't tell ya, it could really screw some stuff up for me…"

Natsu scoffed, crossing his arms and playing with the ends of his scarf, a new habit he couldn't seem to break. "I don't care what your secret is, just think of a better excuse before you apologize to Levy." He said sternly, quickly turning on his heels before stomping away.

* * *

"A simple sorry isn't gonna cut it…" Jet spoke slowly, his voice low and threatening as he stood in front of Levy, shielding her from Gajeel in case he tried to hurt her again.

"What else am I supposed to say? I've never had to do something like this before…" Gajeel said uncomfortably, guilt keeping him from looking anywhere but the ground.

Jet rolled his eyes, stepping further in front of Levy as he spoke. "First of all, I highly doubt you've never done this before." Jet paused, waiting for some sort of reaction only to see a small flinch. "And you're supposed to give some sort of reason for what you did…"

Gajeel thought for a moment, eyes frantically scanning the hall for something to say as he began to play with the straps on his book bag. "This weird bunch of eighth graders made me do it, they threatened me with some stuff I can't talk about…"

* * *

" _Whaddya want now?" Gajeel asked the group of eighth graders, feeling extremely annoyed with the fact that all of them were taller._

 _The tallest boy -probably the leader of the group- smirked, looking around at the rest of his gang. "You know that little smart ass in your homeroom, the short one with the blue hair and stupid glasses?" He asked, waiting for Gajeel to nod before continuing. "We need you to teach her a lesson, we'd do it ourselves, but I'd rather someone else take the blame for me, you know?"_

 _Gajeel scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest as the older boys glared. "I'm not gonna beat up that shrimp just because you want me to, unlike the rumors say, I have a heart." He said before turning around, adjusting the textbook in his hand before he began to walk away._

" _Alright, I guess I'll just have to tell everyone about that secret you've been trying to hide for so long…"_

 _Gajeel froze, not daring to show any fear in case the eighth grader was bluffing. "I don't know what you're talking about." He lied, grip tightening around his book._

 _The older boy laughed, easily seeing through Gajeel's attempt to play dumb. "What kind of a shit lie is that? I know everything about your past, kid," He smirked, walking forward so he could see Gajeel's face when he leaned over. "the real reason you were put up for adoption, how you got those scars on your arm, and worst of all, the fact that it was your parents who ki-"_

" _Fine, I'll do it!" Gajeel yelled before the leader could finish his statement, nearly throwing his textbook to the ground to drown out that last word._

* * *

"If you want any sort of forgiveness then you'll need to give me a real reason." Levy demanded, surprising both Jet and Gajeel.

Gajeel sighed, thinking for a moment as he looked between Jet and Levy. "Fine, but speedy needs to leave first, not to where he can't see us, just far enough that he can't hear." He said, pointing behind him with his thumb.

Even though Levy agreed, Jet hesitated before leaving, sending Gajeel an only slightly intimidating glare as he passed.

"The leader of that stupid group, I think his name was Jose, said he was gonna tell everyone some bad things from my past." Gajeel said while looking over his shoulder, making sure Jet was out of earshot before he continued. "I'm really not supposed to say much, and even this little bit is testing it, but remember when we were about six, and that old house burned down with that family inside it?

"Well, it was my parents who did that, and the scars on my arms are from them trying to keep me quiet…" He spoke barely loud enough for Levy to hear, nervously tracing his scars while keeping his gaze on the ground.

He'd only told the story a few times, mostly to the police when it had happened, and once to his adoptive father, Metalicana, and even that took nearly three years to fully get out.

Gajeel hadn't spoken to his parents since the day he was taken away, some people said they had been relocated to at least five different prisons, and some said they were given the death sentence, either way Gajeel didn't care. He'd suffered years of constant abuse from those people, he wasn't upset at all when they were arrested, if anything, he was finally happy, never having to worry about either of them again.

Levy thought for a moment, repeating his words in her mind as she looked over to Jet. "Well, I don't forgive what you did yet, but I accept your apology, so maybe I'll be able to forgive one day…" She smiled gently when he finally looked up, not exactly making eye contact, but coming quite close to it.

Gajeel mumbled his thanks as the two parted ways, him heading to his fourth detention that week, and Levy walking over to Jet, quickly explaining that she was okay, and that a real apology had been given and accepted.

* * *

 **This is honestly my first time writing Gajeel and I'm really worried I screwed him up so please if you have any tips I would love to know them!**

 **Anyway, I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow, and the hotel should have wifi but I'm not sure how good it is, so I planned ahead and will have the next chapter saved here and queued on tumblr, so it'll be up on Tuesday or Wednesday, just kinda depends on how busy I am.**

 **As always, thank you for reading, reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	7. Oddly Enthusiastic

Lucy breathed in the crisp fall air, making sure to step on every possible crunchy leaf she could find as she walked to the front doors of the school, waving to her friends once they finally spotted her.

It was the first day back from thanksgiving break and the trees were almost completely bare, a thin layer of frost coating the ground and a cool breeze tinting everybody's cheeks pink.

"Ugh, I hate the cold." Natsu complained loud enough that nearly half the students could hear, turning towards Gray to make sure he knew of Natsu's discomfort.

Gray glared, taking an ice cube from his water bottle and quickly putting it down Natsu's shirt. "Shut up, flame brain, everyone knows it's easier to deal with the cold." He declared, laughing as Natsu began to squirm in an attempt to move the ice cube. "You can get as many coats as you want when you're cold, but what can you do when you get hot? Nothing, you're stuck with it."

Natsu rolled his eyes, carelessly throwing the ice cube over his shoulder once it was out of his shirt. "You're just jealous because I can handle heat better than you, right, Luce?" He asked, turning towards his best friend to try and prove his point.

"Oh no, you're not dragging me into this argument again, last time this happened, both of you ignored me for three days!" Lucy said frantically as she speed walked inside, adapting a slower pace as they entered the school to show she wasn't picking a side again. "And why do you keep calling me 'Luce'? I told you to stop that!"

Natsu shrugged as he entered the classroom, silently letting Lucy know that he had absolutely no plans of dropping the nickname.

As the seventh graders finished being seated, their homeroom teacher announced that a new student was to join the school, instantly losing the attention of roughly half the children.

A pale, frail looking girl nervously walked through the door, her blue curls swaying with each step.

"Everyone, this is Juvia Lockser," The teacher spoke softly, scanning the room for any sort of reaction. "she just transferred here from Phantom Lord Academy, where things were quite different, so I hope you-"

"Gajeel-Kun!" Juvia suddenly yelled, running across the room and slamming her hands down on Gajeel's desk.

Gajeel instantly looked up, a grin spreading across his face before he realized the expression he was currently making, quickly replacing it with his usual scowl.

The entire class gaped at what they had just witnessed while the two began to talk. Had Gajeel just... _grinned_ because of a _classmate_?! He attempted to cover it up, but it was still quite obvious in his eyes.

"Well, I'll trust you to show Juvia around the school, Gajeel, and hopefully the other students will help when you're not in the same class!" The teacher said loudly, drawing the attention of almost all of the surprised students.

* * *

Once the final two classes of the day arrived, Juvia was finally without Gajeel, and of course, the first class was the worst of them all: gym class.

Juvia began to panic when the teacher announced they would be playing dodgeball, knowing that everybody would aim for her by the sinister smirks that adorned the face of nearly everyone that looked at her.

Juvia surprised everybody when the game started, despite the fact that she couldn'y even throw the ball halfway across the gym, she was great at dodging.

Until the entire class targeted her at once.

Juvia jumped at ducked out of the way, barely being able to move anywhere without another three balls flying towards everywhere below her neck.

The hoard of dodgeballs began to slow down as the other team began to prioritize, whispering an actual plan before they continued their assault.

Realizing there was no hope left when they started hurling the balls full force in groups of three, Juvia finally gave up as she curled into a ball in the middle of the gym floor, taking extra care to cover her face as four dodgeballs flew towards her.

Juvia hesitated to look up after none of the balls hit her, seeing a boy with dark hair protectively standing over, panting from running so far in only a few seconds, only to save her.

The boy looked over his shoulder to Juvia for a second, catching a ball and handing it to her so she could block anything that came her way.

"This is the most enthusiastic game these people have played since third grade." The boy said as he scanned the other team, hitting another ball away with the one he was currently holding. "Stay close behind me and I'll protect you, if I somehow miss a ball then try and hit it away with the one you're holding." He threw a ball while finishing his sentence, almost instantly catching a new one. "I'm Gray, by the way." He finished with a smile, catching another ball while simultaneously deflecting another one.

Juvia blushed at the boy's kindness, smiling back as she moved out of the way of a ball that was flying towards her head as soon as she stood up. "Thank you, Gray, Juvia would introduce herself, but she remembers seeing you this morning in homeroom, so you probably know her name already." She said before ducking behind Gray, watching in slight awe at how fast his reflexes were.

With Juvia's skill of dodging and Gray having a great throwing arm, the two managed to pull their team to victory nearly every match they played, only leaving the class with a few red marks and small bruises.

* * *

"So, Juvia, how was your first day at Magnolia Middle School?" Gray asked when the final school bell rang, shoving his unfinished homework into his bag.

Juvia smiled, finishing up the final question of her math assignment before placing it in her textbook. "Juvia loved it, especially because of all the help from Gajeel-Kun and Gray-Sama!" She said happily, practically skipping out the door.

Gray's cheeks became pink at her words, looking away to avoid her eyes, Gray stumbled over his own words. "I-I told you, drop the '-Sama'..."

* * *

 **Sorry this was posted late, I was exhausted on wednesday and tuesday when I got back to my hotel, and last night I got home really late so it was kind of a stupid time to update. Anyway, on sunday I'm leaving again and won't be back until thursday, I won't have wifi this time so idk if I'll update on sunday or when I get back, but there's a pretty high chance it'll be when I return.**

 **As always, thanks for reading, reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	8. She Thought It Was Cute

"Natsu, calm down!" Lucy yelled at her best friend, eagerly trying to break free of Natsu's grip on her wrist. "We have to wait for everyone else!"

Natsu suddenly came to a stop in front of the large set of doors, impatiently waiting for the rest of the class to catch up.

Lucy ran into his shoulder, stumbling back before regaining her balance. "Why is it that every time we go somewhere, you drag me to the front?" She asked, staring up at the large letters that read ' _Fairy Tail High School'_.

Natsu grinned, crossing his arms proudly while looking back at the teacher, who was finally managing to catch up. "'Cause Zeref let me see his schedule, I know exactly where he'll be as we look around the school!"

From the front of the group Gray laughed, inspecting the school's exterior as he walked. "No joke, that makes you sound like a stalker."

"Shut up, at least I don't strip when I get _bored_!" Natsu shot back, glancing down at Gray's torso before glaring at the shirt in Juvia's hands.

* * *

"Hey, Luce, what time is it?" Natsu whispered as they entered the math department, reading the name of each teacher as they passed.

Lucy quickly checked her phone, responding to a short text before putting it back in her bag. "It's almost two, is Zeref in one of these rooms?" She asked, instantly regretting her answer when Natsu ran towards a door a few feet ahead, throwing it open with an unbelievably loud "Yo!"

Erza was the first to react, pulling Natsu back by his scarf while Lucy grabbed the door handle, yelling an apology before slamming it shut, noticing all the amused looks on every senior's face, a few poking fun at an extremely embarrassed and confused Zeref.

"That's it, you're staying in the back with me, don't say anything until we get back to our school!" Erza announced, dragging Natsu by his scarf to the back of the group, ignoring his complaints and the laughs of kids around them.

* * *

Natsu slid out of the detention chair, grabbing his study packet and carelessly shoving it into his already over filled bag before walking to the front desk, taking his cell phone and turning it back on, the buzzing stopping after about thirty seconds as an unusual amount of text messages flooded in.

 _27 messages from: Zeref_ the screen read as other notifications about emails and different applications continued to pop up.

"Shit…" Natsu mumbled as he exited the school, walking towards the red car that Zeref sat in, glaring at absolutely nothing in front of him.

As soon as the car door was open, Zeref directed his glare at Natsu, frustration evident in his voice. "Why the hell did you do that?"

Natsu flinched, slowly lowering himself into the car, thinking up an escape route in case things took a turn for the worst. "Well, in my defense…" He paused, watching as Zeref forcefully turned the key, the engine turning on faster than it probably should have. "you're the one that let me see your schedule…"

Zeref began to drive out of the school lot, carelessly flailing his right hand around as he talked to himself, repeating things like "I can't believe him" and "What kind of an idiot does that?" until Natsu knew when he would say them.

"Did you know my girlfriend was in that class with me?" Zeref asked after roughly five minutes, eyes darting around as he examined each mirror for any danger, not bothering to wait for Natsu's response. "Yeah, she thought that little stunt you pulled was cute, says she can't wait to meet you." Zeref spoke each sentence quickly, glaring at almost everything as he turned onto their street. "There's a reason the only times she comes over is when you're gone, I didn't want her to see you until you matured more!"

Natsu grinned cockily, leaning back into his seat after realizing he was safe for the time being. "What can I say, girls love- hey, what was that for!?" He spoke as Zeref flicked Natsu's ear.

"Go after somebody else, Mavis is mine." Zeref stated, parking his car in the driveway. "By the way, you're lucky that Igneel works late tonight, you'd be dead if he answered the phone."

Natsu cringed at the thought, remembering how he promised not to get into any trouble during the last month of school as he pulled his bag from the car, a somewhat important question suddenly coming to mind. "Did you say Mavis is only here when I'm gone?" He asked, waiting for Zeref to nod before continuing. "How many times has she been here when Igneel was gone, too?"

"That is absolutely none of your business!"

* * *

 **I know I said I would update like four days ago but you should all know that I'm very bad at keeping dates so when I say I'll update a certain day just expect for it to be at least two days late. Now that that's out of the way, the next chapter should be out within a week.**

 **As you can see, my shipping trash self emerges even more in this chapter with a bit of Zervis, enjoy it because there won't be too much, but it'll still be quite fluffy.**

 **Some people were worried I would make Juvia stalker like and stuff, but don't worry, I also hate that trope and Juvia is my favorite character, she won't be creepy and stalkery like some people make her out to be.**


	9. We Already Knew

"My arms feels like they're gonna fall off!" Levy whined as she entered the girl's locker room, quickly grabbing her clarinet case to put away her instrument. "You cheerleaders are so lucky."

Lucy scoffed, pulling a change of clothes from her bag as she began to speak. "No we don't, I'm constantly yelling, jumping, and trying not to break any part of my body!" She declared, putting a large sweater on before sliding off her skirt. "On top of that, we have to make sure the crowd is excited, which is really hard when the other team starts winning!"

The season for high school football was finally coming to a close as October reached an end, the last few games helping to determine which teams would go on to be Fiore's best for the next year, this week's game: Fairy Tail High School versus Sabertooth Academy.

"Juvia!" Lucy called, seeing her other blue haired friend had entered the room. "Which is more difficult, cheerleading or being in band? Give an unbiased opinion!"

Juvia hesitated before answering, looking between her friends to try and figure out which side would elicit a kinder reaction. "Um, well, Juvia thinks that both groups worked very hard, she can't decide which activity is more tiring…"

Levy and Lucy reluctantly agreed- much to Juvia's relief- as they finished changing, grabbing all their belongings before exiting the locker room.

"Hey, Luce, got any snacks in that bag?" Natsu asked as soon as she was out of the room, Gray standing not too far away with a hopeful smile.

Lucy sighed as she opened her bag, pulling out two large candy bars. "I know you run across the field for almost three hours every week, but there's a reason your coach tells you to eat a lot." She said, giving one bar to Natsu before handing the other to Juvia, who was on her way to talk to Gray.

"I could eat an entire buffet right before each game, and I'd _still_ be hungry afterwards." Natsu announced as he ripped open the candy bar, eating it in about three seconds. "Now we gotta go, if we don't get to the bus in time it'll leave without us."

* * *

Fairy Tail was known quite well for it's large budget, allowing cheerleaders and band members to go with the team to every sports game, and for games that were later at night and over two hours away, everyone was allowed to stay in a nearby hotel, two or three people in every room.

"Juvia and I are off to grab a bite with everyone else, are you two sure you want to stay here?" Levy asked from the doorway, checking her phone before putting it back in her purse.

Natsu and Lucy gave some sort of grunt in response, too distracted by the game they were currently playing to pay attention to what was going on around them.

"Why'd you just jump off the map?!" Natsu asked as he furiously began to hit every button.

"There's another Robin and I got confused!" Lucy yelled back as Levy closed the door.

* * *

As Lucy entered the school on Monday, she could feel everyone's eyes on her, whispering to their friends as she passed.

Worrying there was some extreme flaw with her outfit or makeup, Lucy ducked into the nearest restroom, the four girls already in there instantly stopping their conversation as soon as they spotted her, shuffling out while they whispered amongst each other.

Lucy cautiously exited the restroom after reassuring she looked fine, making her way to homeroom as nearly every student watched her.

"Lu-Chan, are you okay?!" Levy asked as soon as Lucy entered the classroom, where students finally minded their own business.

"Why wouldn't I be-"

"Levy," Gajeel mumbled, speaking so silently Lucy could barely hear. "she doesn't know about the rumors…"

Lucy froze, breath hitching in her throat as everything began to fall into place. "What...what rumors?" She asked quietly, her voice weak.

Levy hesitated, looking to Gajeel for affirmation before speaking. "Well, when you and Natsu were two of the few people who didn't join everyone else, word quickly spread that you were alone in the same room, and people started coming up with their own reasons why, some of which you could probably guess…"

Lucy was silent, processing Levy's words before slumping into a nearby chair. People were really saying things like that? Sure, she and Natsu were being noisy, but it was only about the game, and most of it was Natsu!

"I'm sorry, Lu-Chan, Juvia and I tried to stop it, but we couldn't." Levy spoke softly, rubbing Lucy's back in comfort.

* * *

By Friday, the entire student body had heard the rumors, blowing them completely out of proportion and adding other people in that had less than nothing to do with it.

" _Did you hear about what Natsu and Lucy did?"_

" _I heard she did it with Gray, too!"_

" _I was told there was a foursome where Levy and Juvia were involved!"_

" _Ew, she's such a slut…"_

Nobody bothered to whisper anymore, some would straight up point at her, declaring to their friends that she was the girl who slept with those people. On top of that, lunch was practically hell, some would scoff in disgust as they passed her table while others would talk about how they were "totally getting her in the sack".

Lucy made sure not to show that it bothered her the first few days, Natsu didn't seem to care, and telling him she did would probably just end up with somebody getting punched. Despite how hard she tried, Natsu easily saw through the act, sometimes it was annoying how well he knew her.

A scoff was heard behind Lucy as a group of upperclass girls walked by, the supposed leader, Kyoka, mumbling "skank" loud enough for Lucy and her friends to hear. Kyoka's group laughed as they continued on, not bothering to see how Lucy reacted.

Lucy looked down to her untouched food, wrapping her arms around herself while tears began to brim in her eyes. She ignored the fact that it was becoming easier to feel her ribs, the sudden anxiety of the week causing an extreme loss of appetite.

Natsu slammed his fists on the table, shooting up with a scowl on his face. "Alright everyone, listen up!" He shouted as he got on top of the table, drawing the attention of every student and teacher in the cafeteria. "You wanna know exactly what happened with Lucy and I after the game last week?"

Lucy watched in awe, murmurs of confirmation coming from around the room as everyone's attention shifted to her.

"We were playing video games all night, you got that? I dunno how you got sex from me screaming at Pikachu!" Natsu continued as he looked around the room, sneaking glances to Lucy to make sure she was okay.

"Then how do you explain all the moans from Lucy?" Someone asked, earning multiple shouts of agreement throughout the room.

Seeing Natsu's confusion, Levy quickly got up on the table, pointing in the direction the voice came from. "The groaning happened _way_ after Natsu left, and only because we found out she likes...someone but that's not important!"

Students began to shout out more questions, not bothering for one to be answered before asking another. Natsu and Levy quickly shot them all down, announcing that they already proved nothing had happened and they didn't need to say anything more.

* * *

" _Come on, Lu-Chan!" Levy whined, pulling the hotel's blanket tighter around her body. "Juvia and I told you who we're crushing on, so it's only right that you say yours…"_

 _Lucy groaned, burying her face into a nearby pillow. "I don't want to, you guys will laugh!" She yelled, voice muffled by the pillow._

" _Juvia promises not to tell, and she is quite sure Levy will do the same!" Juvia announced, looking back at her phone as it began to buzz._

 _Despite Levy's nod of agreement, Lucy hesitated, knowing her friends would freak out no matter what. "Alright, but you can't laugh or freak out…" She stated, looking down at her hands as her face turned red, waiting for her friends to agree before continuing. "I...like Natsu, and I have for two years…"_

 _Lucy nervously looked to her friends when they didn't respond, only to find them unnecessarily surprised._

" _She actually admitted it…" Levy mumbled, looking over to a befuddled Juvia. The two momentarily shared a look before bursting into a fit of giggles._

 _Lucy panicked, falling back on the bed while shoving a pillow in her face. "It's not funny!" She yelled into the pillow, the giggles turning to laughter._

" _Sorry, Lu-Chan!" Levy apologized once she calmed down. "Everyone is already pretty certain you like him, I just wasn't sure_ you _knew…"_

 _Lucy sat back up, smacking the pillow onto the bed next to her. "What do you- never mind, we're done talking, I'm going to bed!" She proclaimed before flopping to the side, pulling the blankets until they covered her head._

* * *

 **And the truth is revealed! Bit of a serious tone this chapter, but nothing too big, just know that the next chapter will be much more serious and kinda dark, which is why tenth grade will be two parts.**

 **(Quick spoiler hint for you readers: Somebody may or may not be in the hospital...)**


	10. Room 209 (Part One)

**WARNING: CHARACTER DEATH**

* * *

"I'm off to school, dad." Lucy called up the stairs, not bothering to wait for a response, knowing there would be none. The phone in her back pocket began to buzz, pulling it out, she saw that the call was from Igneel.

" _That's odd"_ Lucy thought, selecting the answer icon and holding the phone to her ear. Before she could properly answer, Igneel's voice began to frantically spill through the speaker. "Igneel, slow down! Is everyth- a car crash!? Alright, I'll be there soon."

Lucy threw her bag on the living room couch, running to the stairs to call up to her father. "Dad, I need you to drive me to the hospital!"

* * *

As soon as Lucy walked into the second floor lobby, she spotted Natsu, anxiously tapping his foot and biting his nails. There were bandages wrapped around his head, left arm in a temporary sling. Igneel sat on one side of him, tossing the dark pendant of a necklace between his hands.

From what Lucy could gather over the phone, someone driving in a large truck had run into Zeref's car while he was driving Natsu to school. The truck was estimated to be going around 70 miles per hour, running straight into Zeref's side of the vehicle, taking most of the damage in an attempt to protect Natsu, Zeref ended up in critical condition.

"Mornin', Luce…" Natsu mumbled as Lucy sat down next to him, barely turning his head as he checked his phone, responding to the concerned texts of their friends.

Lucy sat down next to Natsu, being careful not to move his arm as she gave him a quick hug. "Are you okay?" She asked, already quite certain of what the answer would be.

Natsu thought for a moment, putting his phone on mute to help him ignore any more questions. "Physically; I've honestly had much worse." He paused, looking for some sort of reaction from Lucy, only to be met with concern. "Mentally...kinda shitty."

Lucy gently placed her hand on Natsu's shoulder, knowing any wrong move could cause tears. "He'll be okay…"

* * *

It had been nearly three hours and nothing had happened, leaving both Natsu and Igneel a panicking mess.

They were aloud to go in and see Zeref at one point, but Natsu refused, saying he didn't want to see Zeref again until he was awake.

Natsu decided to distract himself with his phone, texting people and playing games to help pass the time.

"Are you sure you don't wanna see him?" Igneel asked again, watching Natsu lose for the fifth time in a row.

Before Natsu could respond, a slight commotion was heard down the hall, followed by a voice over the hospital's intercom. " _Code blue, floor two, room 209!"_

Natsu shot up, dropping his phone on the chair as a group of nurses ran down the hall, pulling a large cart with them.

"That's Zeref's room!" Natsu yelled, following the nurses as Igneel and Lucy trailed behind him.

Two of the nurses stood in front of the room, trying to hold Natsu back while explaining that he couldn't go in, as he would just be a nuisance to those trying to resuscitate the patient.

"But he's my brother!" Natsu yelled as he struggled, trying to look through the windows on the doors for a sign that Zeref was okay.

Time seemed to freeze when Natsu saw the defibrillator in the nurse's hands, sending a shock through Zeref that did nothing, the line on the heart rate monitor was still flat, the numbers still said zero.

Tears began to sting Natsu's eyes as the nurse continued her attempts, sending the shock through Zeref a second time, the tears spilling onto his cheeks when they went for a third.

Natsu watched in horror as they tried once again, only for the monitor to stay the same. Another nurse put up his hand, looking down at his watch before calling something out, another nurse writing on her clipboard.

The nurse with the watch turned to look out the window, shaking his head to the two standing outside the door, signalling that Zeref was gone.

The nurse stepped to the side, saying something to Igneel with an emotionless expression, but Natsu didn't hear, not even when Igneel began to argue, for he was already sobbing as his legs gave out, collapsing to the ground.

* * *

 **I'm gonna be completely honest here, this was one of the first things I planned for this story, and my excitement to write this chapter is probably a bit worrisome...**

 **Anyway, today was the last day of summer, which means updates might be slower, but I usually finish my work at school, so they could definitely still be at the same pace, I've already started part two of this chapter, but I can already tell it's gonna be quite long, so there's no telling when it'll be finished (hopefully soon)...**


	11. Room 209 (Part Two)

**WARNING: Mentions of self harm**

It had been nearly two weeks since Zeref's death, and Natsu had only left his house for the funeral.

Lucy would never forget how broken he looked that day, dark circles under his red rimmed eyes, pink hair messier than usual. Natsu refused to leave Lucy's side, holding her hand throughout the entire ceremony, squeezing so tight at some moments that she feared her hand would bruise, looking down most of the time in an attempt to hide his tears.

Speaking to him was nearly impossible, he instantly sent every call to voicemail and responded to texts with one or two words.

Nobody had visited yet to comfort him, figuring he'd need space to deal with what happened, but Lucy knew better, she knew he needed some sort of physical comfort.

* * *

Lucy began to rethink her idea as she walked up the steps, she didn't bother to tell Natsu, he'd just refuse to see her, no matter how much she insisted. Deciding that it was for the best, Lucy rang the doorbell, patiently waiting for someone to answer.

Shortly after, Igneel opened the door, slightly surprised that Lucy was standing there. She quickly noticed the dark circles under his red rimmed eyes, face unshaven and hair a complete mess.

Igneel stepped to the side, nodding towards the stairs that led to Natsu's room. Lucy silently entered the house, giving Igneel a quick hug before heading up the stairs.

The hallway was unnaturally dark, the only noise being the slight hum of a song from Natsu's room.

"Natsu?" Lucy asked, knocking gently on the door. Unsurprisingly, there was no response, the music growing slightly louder. Lucy sighed, silently opening the door to Natsu's unusually clean room.

He laid on his bed, back facing the door while he played with something in his hands, the small object seemingly broken by the way he kept messing with it.

 _I'll see you in the future when we're older_

 _And we are full of stories to be told_

Lucy walked over to the speakers on his dresser, turning the volume down to almost nothing so they could properly hear each other.

"Natsu…" Lucy spoke gently, waiting a moment for a response she probably wouldn't receive. "Natsu." She repeated, a bit louder this time.

Natsu shifted his arm slightly to show he heard Lucy, the cast on his arm becoming more visible as he did so. Lucy cautiously walked towards his bed, the small object in his hand coming into view.

He was playing with a small, black lighter with flames painted across it, Natsu's name engraved in swooping gold letters.

It was a lighter that Zeref had given Natsu for his eleventh birthday, he'd used it nearly every day for no reason, burning up all the fuel in it in less than three months. Even though it was quite useless, he refused to leave it be, carrying it around all the time for three more years.

Lucy placed her hand on Natsu's head, running her hand slowly through his hair. "How long have you been doing this?" She asked, earning a weak shrug in response. "It'll be easier to talk if you sit up…"

Natsu moved slowly, placing the lighter on at the end of the bed as he leaned against the wall.

"How much have you eaten these past few weeks?" Lucy asked, placing her hand on his.

Natsu turned away, his fingers twitching as he looked at the lighter. "Three sandwiches and a bowl of ice cream, but I threw up after eating every time…" He mumbled, pulling gently at his ripped shirt.

Lucy squeezed his upper arm, worried she'd hurt him if she applied too much pressure near his cast. "Do you think you'll be able to eat if I make your favorite food?"

Natsu shook his head, looking at her hand on his arm. "I don't wanna eat, not hungry…"

Lucy sighed, throwing one of her legs over Natsu's to sit on his thighs, grabbing the sides of his face and putting her forehead against his before the sudden burst of confidence ended.

"I don't care how long it takes, or how much I have to do, I'll find something that you can eat without throwing up, okay?" She spoke softly, staring into Natsu's wide eyes the entire time. "And I know you don't want to, but I need you to tell me everything you've done since I last saw you, no matter how little it may be…"

A spark of fear seemed to flash through Natsu's eyes as he nodded, breaking eye contact once Lucy backed up.

"I haven't left my room much, only took two showers, drank over thirty bottles of water because it helps me calm down, and one other thing I'm not sure I wanna tell you…" Natsu relayed worriedly, lowering his head so that his bangs covered his eyes as he said the last part.

He shakily grabbed his shirt, lifting the left side of it slowly as he exposed two large cuts above his hip, intersecting in an off-centered X shape. "I did it last Wednesday without thinking, I didn't care about what would happen until the blood started pooling on the floor, it took over an hour to clean up, and the entire time I did it, I cried…"

Lucy placed her hand on the edge of the dark, scabbed cut, tracing the outline of it with light, feathery touches. "Did you tell Igneel?"

Natsu tensed, bowing his head lower so he wouldn't see Lucy's reaction. "I'm afraid of what he'll say…"

Lucy pulled her hand away, putting Natsu's shirt back down before she pulled him into an embrace, his head resting on her shoulder. "He'll understand, Natsu, I won't make you tell him, but I know he won't be mad."

Natsu wrapped his arms around Lucy's waist, pulling her closer as tears began to fall from his eyes, wetting her shirt.

They stayed that way for a few minutes as Lucy played with Natsu's hair, thinking of something to say. Natsu hated prolonged silence, he needed someone speaking at all times or he'd get skittish and uncomfortable. Unable to think of a decent sentence, Lucy went to her last resort, quietly singing along with the song that was currently playing through Natsu's speakers.

 _I am a lost boy from Neverland_

 _Usually hanging out with Peter Pan_

Natsu turned his head slightly so he could hear better, quieting his sobs so they wouldn't overtake Lucy's voice.

 _And when we're bored we play in the woods_

 _Always on the run from Captain Hook_

 _"Run, run, lost boy," they say to me._

 _Away from all of reality_

 _Neverland is home to lost boys like me_

 _And lost boys like me are free._

"I love you, Luce..." Natsu mumbled into Lucy's shoulder, tears slowing enough that he could properly speak.

"What was that?" Lucy asked, pulling away slightly so she could see his face better.

"Nothing, I was just talking to myself." He responded quickly, returning to nuzzling into the crook of her neck.

* * *

 **First of all I would like to apologize for not updating in over two weeks, like I said last update, school started again and it has been extremely draining both emotionally and physically, and I just haven't had the energy to post this chapter.**

 **Also, there's only a few chapters left in this story, and I'm honestly not ready for it to end, depending on how much more I have to say after the last chapter, there might be an epilogue.**

 **The lyrics in this chapter are from Laughter Lines by Bastille and Lost Boy by Ruth B.**


	12. Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets

"You know, you're supposed to _ask_ if I'll go to prom with you." Lucy stated, quickly taking the box of chocolates with " _Ready for prom?"_ written on them from Natsu.

Natsu laughed, pulling himself onto Lucy's roof without struggle. "Just be happy that I got you some chocolate, I could've just repeated your third grade agreement what you called the 'Dragneel _Prom_ ise' and made a dumber pun."

Lucy cut the small pieces of tape with her nail, placing the chocolates between Natsu and herself. "I'll bring out that stupid agreement we wrote in crayon, it's still in that little treasure chest on my dresser!"

Natsu cringed, remembering all the stupidly embarrassing things he'd written on yellowed piece of classroom notebook paper. "Now I'm kinda regretting my beautiful moonlight promposal thing, even after I knew exactly when you'd be on the roof!" He exaggerated, faking a hurt expression for added effect, dropping it when Lucy gave him the "I'm not buying it" look. "Alright, you caught me, I've been checking for you for over a week now…"

Lucy grabbed one of the chocolates, refraining from pointing out that prom was already less than a month away, and everyone else had asked as soon as tickets were on sale. "Are you sure you'll be up for it? It's only a few days before the anniversary of you know what…"

Natsu's face fell for a moment as he remembered the day he lost his brother, smile quickly returning but failing to fully mask the sadness in his eyes. "Of course I'll be okay! A Dragneel doesn't break his promises, no matter how old and stupid it may be!"

* * *

"Are you sure you're up for prom?" Lucy asked, there were only five days to the dance and Natsu still hadn't shown any signs of backing out.

Natsu was never the kind of person to dwell on things, he loved living in the present rather than crying over the past, the longest he'd been upset over something was a week, even two years ago when Happy died…

But Zeref was different.

Natsu's face fell, his usual grin turning into a slight frown. "Of course I will! Zeref died almost a year ago, I...I'm over it now…" His voice faltered as he finished speaking, the remaining sparkle in his eyes fading at the mention of his brother. "Besides, I told you I wouldn't break our promise."

Lucy smiled softly, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a partially ripped, folded piece of yellowing paper. "That may be true, but I read the agreement this morning, and your third grade self is contradicting your words." Lucy unfolded the paper, dramatically clearing her throat as she found the paragraph. "'I, Natsu Dragneel, agree to be Lucy's date to prom in eleventh grade, the only way this promise can be broken is if something super duper bad happens before the dance that makes us feel really not good!', those are your exact words, so you can change your mind at any time."

Natsu scrunched his nose in disgust, sending a glare to the piece of paper. "C'mon, Luce, why'd you have to quote it like that?" He whined, considering whether he should destroy the paper or not. "And I already told ya, I'll be fine, I even got the tie you told me to get!"

"The fuschia one?"

"Okay no, it's not 'fusion' or whatever that word is, the color is a pink-purple

-red combination!" Natsu stated strictly, a tinge of sass in his voice. "And yes, I got the fabric of death."

* * *

Lucy awoke on Saturday to the blaring noise of a calendar event on her phone, screen lighting up with the words "PROM" and all the information that came with it. She groaned, picking up the device and getting rid of the notification, shooting up when she saw there was a voicemail from Natsu.

" _Yo, Luce, sorry for calling so early, but I got some bad news…"_ Natsu's voice came through the speakers slowly, the unevenness hinting that he was on the verge of tears. " _You were right about the Zeref thing, I know it's still a few days away, but it just...really hurts, I don't wanna be around a bunch of people right now, I'll talk to you later."_

" _Just listened to your message, I'll be over within the next half hour."_ Lucy texted to Natsu, turning off her phone as she got dressed, grabbing her keys on the way out the door.

* * *

Knowing Igneel was at work, Lucy used the spare key she was given to enter the house.

Natsu was slumped down in his favorite recliner, arms crossed as he glared at the wall, a slight pout adorning his features. "I told you not to come…" He murmured, gaze shifting to Lucy.

Lucy sighed, holding out the grocery bag to Natsu as she tried not to think about how cute he looked when his eyes widened, curiosity showing. "I didn't want you to be sad and alone today, so I brought some of your favorite things!"

Natsu took the bag and searched through it, becoming more confused the longer he looked. "So...why are there dinosaur chicken nuggets?"

Lucy laughed, taking the bag of chicken nuggets and heading towards the kitchen. "You told me a while back that you used to love making them fight to the death, so I figured you'd want to do that again."

"Luce, we're almost seniors, I'm not playing with the dinosaurs…"

* * *

"How do you still have three dinosaurs!?" Natsu yelled, grabbing his last T-rex chicken nugget to fight Lucy's. "I've been mo- wait, you haven't been eating them when you should, you're cheating!"

Lucy lifted her current dinosaur off the table, smacking it into Natsu's. "I've been eating them when I should, you're the one taking huge bites no matter how small the damage." She stated as they dipped the front of their dinosaurs in ketchup.

Natsu aggressively set his dinosaur back on the table, slightly squishing its feet. "My dinosaurs are just trying to protect their babies!" He yelled, pushing a small pile of torn up chicken pieces further away.

Lucy gasped, dramatically placing a hand over her heart. "So _you're_ the one who stole my children!?" She yelled back, reaching over to steal back the pieces of chicken.

"Hey, you're gonna squish my last dinosaur, cut it o-"

"What the hell are you doing!?" Igneel yelled from the doorway, causing the two teens to jump up from their seats.

Natsu and Lucy frantically tried to explain, finally realizing the mess they'd made across the entire table. There were condiments all over, plastic bags strewn across the floor and on the counters while dinosaur chicken nuggets seemed to have been thrown about the room. Different drinks sat about the table, half of a stegosaurus smushed into one of the glasses.

"You know what?" Igneel finally said, cutting off Natsu and Lucy's rambling. "I'm gonna take a shower, I don't know what I'll do if this mess isn't gone by the time I'm done, but it's gonna be bad!" He sighed, running a hand through his hair before calmly looking at the two. "At least you two are happy…"

* * *

Igneel listened closely as he neared the kitchen half an hour later, ready to tell his son off if there was still a large mess. Turning the corner into the living room, he froze at the sight in front of him.

Most of the couch cushions had been placed into a large square in the middle of the room, a blanket covering half of it to block out the small amount of light still streaming through the window. The Lion King was playing on the television, the only sound being the current song despite the fact that the volume was quite low.

Natsu and Lucy were sleeping in the middle of the little fort, Lucy's head resting on Natsu's chest while he pulled her closer by the waist, his head resting on top of hers. There was a light lipstick mark on Natsu's cheek as Lucy's hand loosely grabbed his scarf.

As much as Igneel wanted to see how the two would react upon waking up, he left the room as Lucy began to stir, suppressing a laugh when he could hear her yelp from down the hall.

* * *

 **Sorry for the super late update, I kept redoing the plot for this chapter, and I decided on this one, like, a day before I started writing it. It's also sinking in that there's only one grade left to write, and I'm really not ready for this fic to end!**

 **That in mind, senior year will be two parts, part one won't be too long, but it'll be setting up for the second part. As of right now I'm planning on writing an epilogue, it won't be very long, but it'll wrap up the story.**

 **Remember that reviews are always greatly appreciated!**


	13. Muddled Emotions (Part One)

Lucy sighed when the final bell rang, being reminded for the fifth time that day that it was her last Friday of high school. Every other senior seemed to be buzzing with excitement, discussing their plans before going off to college.

"Yo, Luce, how're you doin'?" Natsu asked when she stepped into the hallway. He could always tell when there was something wrong, but he still wouldn't pry unless he absolutely needed to, knowing Lucy would open up if she wanted to.

"I'm fine, Natsu…" Lucy lied, avoiding his gaze. "You wanna come over for a bit? I got more of those spicy chips that you love."

Natsu gave her a look before grinning, pulling her through the crowd. "Then what are we standing around for?"

* * *

Natsu put down his 3DS, looking to Lucy as she stared blankly at her screen. "Alright, Luce, what's wrong?" He asked, scooting across Lucy's bed so they were closer.

Lucy turned her 3DS off, placing it next to Natsu's on the bedside table. "We only have three days of high school left, which means we're just a few months away from being separated by college…" She almost whispered, pulling her knees to her chest. "I'm not ready to be an actual adult." There were tears in her eyes now, the lump in her throat making it hard to talk.

"I don't want us to be separated either, but we still have four months, why not make the best of it?" Natsu suggested, putting a comforting arm over Lucy's shoulder.

Lucy turned her head into his scarf as her tears began to fall. "We both know it'll feel like less than a month." She said weakly, curling into Natsu's side. "Even when I come home, we won't have time for anything…"

Natsu pulled Lucy into his lap as she began to sob, ignoring the conflicting feelings within him to try and properly comfort her. "We don't have to do anything big when you visit, we can just talk and hang out."

It took Lucy almost half an hour to calm down, realizing just how close her face was to Natsu's when she had finally done so.

Their noses were nearly touching, breath mixing between them with every exhale. He shamelessly stared at her lips as she felt his heartbeat increase to a rate quicker than hers.

The distance between the two slowly began to shrink as Lucy's eyes drifted shut " _Only four months left…"_ Lucy thought as their noses brushed, heat practically radiating from her face.

She could feel the smallest touch on her lips before it was gone, her shoulders being pushed back. Her eyes shot open, barely catching herself before falling off the bed.

Natsu was holding her at arm's length, eyes wide with fear and confusion as he stared right at her. "Luce, I'm so sorry, but your emotions are all... _weird_ right now." Natsu almost whispered, releasing his grip on Lucy's shoulders. "I should go." Natsu stood up once Lucy slid off his lap, grabbing his bag and leaving without another word.

Lucy shoved her face into a pillow once she heard the front door close, letting out a muffled scream.

* * *

 **Quite a short chapter this time, but worry not, this is just build up for the last part!** **I'm roughly half way done with the last bit, so it won't be too long before I post it, but I need to write what may be the epilogue first to see if I want to just make it the end of the last chapter or its own little thing.**

 **Either way, the last piece of this fic that I post will have some big news in it about future stories that I plan to write, and some last little side notes about this story!**

 **Thank you all for reading, remember that reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	14. Muddled Emotions (Part Two)

It'd been nearly four days since Natsu and Lucy spoke, let alone looked at each other, making the four classes they had together unbelievably awkward.

Lucy knew it'd be weird between them for a few days, but she didn't think they would end up blatantly _avoiding_ the other.

In study hall and government, Natsu sat halfway across the room from Lucy, in calculus he faced the complete opposite direction, and in physics he just flat out ignored her.

But worst of all was lunch.

It was known amongst practically the entire school that whatever table Natsu and his friends sat at would undoubtedly be the loudest. Natsu, Gray and Gajeel were constantly yelling or fighting, Erza was always the one to break it up, and Lucy, Levy and Juvia were left to try and talk over all the noise.

But even on tuesday, the second to last day of school for seniors, Natsu was still avoiding Lucy, and rather than sit next to or across from her like he usually did, he sat at one end of the table while she at at the other.

The table was almost completely silent aside from a few concerned whispers, tension so thick even some nearby tables were more silent than usual.

After nearly ten minutes of no eye contact and complete silence, Gray slammed his hands down, drawing the attention of the whole table.

"Alright, I can't take it anymore, somebody has to say it!" He almost yelled, staring down Natsu and Lucy. "You guys almost kissed, _so what_? It happens to the best of us!"

"I hope you know what you're imply-"

"Don't you even start!" Gray cut Natsu off, ignoring Juvia's silent pleading for him to not make a scene. "The sexual tension between you two is _so fucking insane_ that I can feel it from halfway across the goddamn school!"

Natsu and Lucy blushed, making eye contact for a moment before quickly turning away.

"Yes, it's gonna be awkward, yes, everyone knows that you wanna make out now, but I highly doubt that you want to finish your senior year ignoring each other." Gray finished, crossing his arms and sitting back down.

Natsu and Lucy looked at each other in silent agreement, finally speaking again as they walked to their next class together.

* * *

For the next week Natsu and Lucy spent every possible minute together, even going to graduation in the same car.

Since they were required to be at the auditorium an hour and a half before graduation already began, they went for a walk in the nearby woods, sitting on the swings of an abandoned park that they had found.

There was a comfortable silence between them as the swings creaked loudly, a light breeze rustling the leaves above as they swung.

"In less than three hours we'll officially be done with highschool…" Natsu said in an almost whisper, looking up to the trees in way that almost made him seem sad.

Lucy hummed in response, partially zoning off into her own thoughts as she watched the small river in front of her ripple with each gust of wind.

They still hadn't talked about the almost kiss, or how they could feel each other's heartbeat quicken with every second that passed, the way their lips felt together even though they only touched for a mere-

"Hey, Luce, what time is it?" Natsu asked, breaking Lucy from her thoughts.

Lucy jumped slightly, fumbling with her phone before pulling it from her pocket. "Crap, we need to get back soon or we'll get yelled at!" She jumped off the swing, beginning to walk back towards the auditorium before Natsu's voice stopped her.

"Could we stay a few minutes longer? There's something I wanna tell you…" Natsu spoke cautiously, thinking over each sentence before saying it.

Lucy stopped mid-step, her body tensing at his words. " _He's gonna talk about the kiss…"_ She thought, slowly walking back to where Natsu stood.

He avoided her eyes, choosing to stare at the river instead. "I know we talked about this before, but I have something to add to it this time." He spoke slowly, taking a deep breath before looking at Lucy. "I'm _not_ ready to be separated from you, and I know you won't change colleges because you're going to the best one in the country and it's got all the classes you need and stuff like that, so I came up with a solution…" Natsu pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket, opening it up as he spoke.

"I studied more than I ever have before, just so I could get a chance to go to the same college as you." He was smiling now, handing the paper to Lucy so she could read it. "This is the letter they sent me a few days ago…"

Lucy gladly took the paper, eyes widening as she read it over. "We're going to the same college?" She mumbled in disbelief, reading over the first paragraph three more times to make sure she read it correctly.

She looked up and grinned, pulling Natsu into an embrace, paper still in hand, tears of happiness falling from her eyes as he told her the details of how he kept it a secret.

Lucy's arms were still wrapped around Natsu's neck when they pulled apart, both of them grinning like idiots.

"Holy shit I really wanna kiss you right now…" Natsu said after a few seconds, grin momentarily faltering.

Lucy was barely able to finish saying "please do" before Natsu's lips were on hers, soft and only a little sloppy as he pulled her closer by the waist, a hum of content escaping her. It felt like a century before the two pulled away, breath heavy and cheeks red.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that…" Natsu said, grabbing Lucy's hand before heading back to the auditorium.

* * *

 ***Single tear rolls down cheek* I've done it, I have finally finished my first ever multi-chapter fanfiction...except for the epilogue!**

 **The epilogue will be posted in a few hours as it has not yet been finally edited. I'll have a big announcement about future plans along with it, so look forward to that!**


	15. Epilogue

Lucy placed her final box on the floor of her new apartment, wiping the sweat from her brow as she straightened up.

"Are you almost done yet?" She asked Natsu as he brought three boxes into the main room at once, carelessly dropping them on the floor.

He panted, stretching his arms before answering. "Close, Igneel and your dad are bringin' up the last two."

There were boxes stacked everywhere, each one in a certain area according to their labels. Some were taped in a way that made them look fake they were so perfect, while others were slightly bent out of shape, making it obvious which box belonged to who.

It had taken nearly two months, but after constant begging and promises to have separate bedrooms, Jude finally agreed to let Natsu and Lucy share an apartment. Igneel instantly approved, stating he trusted both teens to make the right decisions (something Jude more than strongly disagreed with).

"We've got the last boxes!" Igneel called out as he entered, Jude following close behind. "Since we're all done here, I think it's an appropriate time to get out of your hair, right, Jude?" He said, giving Jude a look that silently said 'disagree and I'll force you out'.

Jude hesitantly agreed, grabbing his phone from the counter as he followed Igneel out the door. "By the way, Natsu," he said before fully exiting, glaring at Natsu as he spoke. "if sometime in the next three years I hear that Lucy is pregnant, I will drive up here to kill you without a second thought…"

Natsu laughed, putting his arm around Lucy to pull her closer. "Can't promise a thing!" He called as Jude closed the door, faking offence when Lucy pushed him away.

* * *

 **And the story officially ends! Thanks to all of you who have read and reviewed this story, especially those of you who have followed me from the start and through my extremely inconsistent updates...**

 **As promised, I have many future stories that I am very excited to tell you about! First off, I'm writing multiple one-shots that fit into this story line, the first one will be a Halloween story which I do plan to post on Halloween, but along with that I plan to write some things about Natsu's childhood before Lucy and more stuff that I wasn't able to add to some chapters.**

 **On the topic of more additions to this story, I will be writing a gruvia side to this as the stuff I had planned for them had nowhere to fit into this story, so I decided to give them their own story going from after they met in this one! I am also going to write a special AU that will be a surprise mostly because I don't know how to explain it without writing an entire essay, so the premise of that will be a secret other than the fact that it will be a high school AU with either nalu or gruvia I'm not totally sure yet...**

 **And finally, I will be writing a NaLu AU for the movie The Walk because I can just see them in that story I think I have a problem.**

 **Once again, thank you all so much for reading, look forward to my future stories and remember to check out my tumblr where my url is hisokas-glowing-erection!**


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